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Dhola Maru and Jasma Odhan
| Content Provider | Internet Archive: Cultural Resources of India |
|---|---|
| Description | Dhola Maru : Once upon a time, there was a small kingdom called Poogal in which lived a king called Pingal. One day he decided to have his infant daughter Maru married off to Dhola, the son of Nal, the king of Narwar and his good friend. So Dhola and Maru got married at childhood but before they attained adulthood, Nal died, and not surprisingly his son Dhola forgot the marriage vows he had exchanged with Maru in childhood. So Dhola got married again to Malwani, while Maru pined for him. Her father, king Pingal sent umpteen messages to Dhola which he never received as his wife Malwani had all the messengers either arrested or thrown out. Maru got through to Dhola finally through a group of folk singers, and Dhola, upon learning about his first wife started off for Poogal immediately. However the cunning Malwani was not going to let the two childhood sweethearts meet. As Dhola set off she sent words through a messenger that she had died and Dhola ought to hurry back. Dhola not oblivious of the ways of Malwani, realized that it was a lie and carried on. His journey to Poogal was uneventful apart from an inopportune encounter with Umar Shumar, the leader of a band of robbers who tried to persuade him that his wife Maru had been married off to somebody else. Umar Shumar eyed Maru. He arrived at Poogal amid a tumultuous welcome and Dhola and Maru were united at last. However the lovers’ troubles were not over yet. On the way back to Narwar, Maru was stung by a desert snake and she died. Overwhelmed with grief Dhola decided to become the first ‘male sati’ in Rajput history by ascending the funeral pyre of his wife. But he was saved at the nick of time by a yogi and yogini who claimed that they could bring Maru back to life. They played their musical instruments, and brought Maru back to life. However, the remarkable story doesn’t end here. Enter the villain Umar Shumar. He was not done with his infatuation for Maru and invited the gullible couple to spend an evening with him and his folks. The couple was warned about Umar’s evil intentions, this time by some folk singers. Soon the couple fled to Malwa. Henceforth, the couple and Malwani, a better human being through remorse, lived happily ever after.Jasma Odhan is a female love legend famous in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Jasma Odhan and her husband belonged to the landlord class. Jasma was called as Jasmarani -the princes of a place called Tambavati and Ratanlal was a landlord of Surat Khamaich. Ratanlal was fond of hunting and official works. Hence he was not able to give time to Jasmarani. Later on they adopted the “Odh” work in which men and wives work together on sand fields. Jasma’s legendery beauty was a talk of the town. The king of Jeetnagar , infatuated with her beauty, wanted to abduct and marry her. However, he failed to do so as Jasma chose to remain true to her only love-her husband.The story has been narrated in various episodes like: Narration of the beauty of Jasma and her love for her husband, The love sick king of Jeetnagar, etc. The tale of Jasma Odhan subverts and affirms the traditional values of society through its female hero, Jasma. The tale gives an edge to a woman’s love over a man’s love. The Langa singers narrate the story musically, being accompanied by Sarangi. The narrative is structured like “dohas” or couplets. |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Rights License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
| Subject Keyword | Oral Tradition |
| Content Type | Audio |
